Sophie Devine and Georgia Wareham headlined a powerful display from Welsh Fire to beat MI London by 60 runs at Sophia Gardens.
Fire collected the wooden spoon last summer but on this form they could be contenders for the title as they posted 177-4, the third-highest total in the history of the women’s competition, and restricted their opponents to 117.
Narrowly defeated by Southern Brave in their opening fixture in a game they perhaps should have won, openers Georgia Voll and Ella McCaughan built a strong foundation here after they were asked to bat by MI London.
The pair put on 49 in 36 deliveries before Hayley Matthews deceived McCaughan (27 from 23) with a dipping delivery that the batter swatted to Hollie Armitage at extra cover.
The dangerous Freya Kemp departed two balls later, run out for the second match in succession, but Voll continued to play her shots, the Aussie eventually falling for a 26-ball 42 when she skied Melie Kerr to Chinelle Henry at long-on.
Devine and Wareham then showed off their full array of strokes as they shared a thrilling fourth-wicket stand of 79 in just 35 deliveries. Devine hit Matthews for 14 in the space of three balls, including two mighty sixes, and the skipper finally fell to the penultimate delivery of the innings, stumped off a Matthews wide having made 52 off 29. Wareham was equally as brutal, the Australian all-rounder blitzing an unbeaten 43 from 20.
Em Arlott hit the final ball of the innings for six to pile more pressure on MI London, who never got going in reply.
Grace Potts was their tormentor in chief, removing the top three to finish with figures of 3-24, and Henry was the only MI London batter to offer any real resistance, making 30 before being dismissed by Devine, who returned figures of 2-15.
Wareham (2-23) capped a superb all-round display by trapping Danielle Gregory lbw to wrap up a comprehensive victory.
After being named the Meerkat Match Hero, Wareham said: “The way we started with the bat was awesome and then we were clinical with the ball. First game at home, we want to make this our fortress.
“We played a really good game the other day, just the last 20 balls let us down. We just wanted to keep it simple.”
